Viral Life Cycles: Lysis, Lysogeny and Latency · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Burst now or hide and wait

Science · Microbiology · ages 19-21
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Where do the two routes split apart?

    • Before entry into the cell
    • After entry, before building
    • After release from the cell

  2. What are the two routes a virus can take?

    • Build now and burst, or join and wait quietly
    • Both always burst at once
    • Both always wait forever

  3. Some human infections recur in the same place years later.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. DNA damage strikes a cell carrying a quiet genome. What follows?

    • Stress signals flip it back to building
    • It deletes itself entirely
    • It leaves the chromosome forever intact

  5. What is the resting name of the joined genome?

    • A burst particle
    • A host ribosome
    • A prophage

  6. Why does the quiet route spread without killing cells?

    • It bursts cells constantly
    • It rides each division for free
    • It swims between hosts

  7. A friend says latency means bursting right away. Is that right?

    • No, quiet animal viruses hide without bursting
    • Yes, every virus bursts at once
    • Yes, latency means instant bursting

  8. You stress a culture of quiet carriers. Predict what the viruses do.

    • It stays quiet forever
    • It gets digested
    • It switches to building and bursting
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Burst now or hide and wait W1-mt_OI8-dySb5A-s1

  1. After entry, before building · Entry done, the fork appears: replicate now or integrate and copy silently.
  2. Build now and burst, or join and wait quietly · The fast route hijacks machinery at once while the quiet one splices in and waits.
  3. True · Hidden nerve viruses reactivate under stress and travel back to cause new sores.
  4. Stress signals flip it back to building · Locks hold the build genes silent until stress signals flip the switch.
  5. A prophage · While it sits spliced into the chromosome it carries that resting name.
  6. It rides each division for free · Every host division copies the guest genome along with the host one.
  7. No, quiet animal viruses hide without bursting · Latency sits silent for years, invisible to defences that only hit active copying.
  8. It switches to building and bursting · The choice is regulated, and stress is the signal that restarts production.
Worksheet · LightMySky